Papagayo

On Saturday night I had a much needed girlie catch up night with my bestie mates Vivieen, Robin and Diane.  I hate that our busy lives force us to plan these nights at least a month in advance but on the bright side, the planning ahead makes me look forward to it even more so.  We usually try any new establishment that has opened (provided that they have their liquour license).  Otherwise we alternate between our two fav Hamilton restaurants - La Luna and Papagayo.   Margaritas were calling our names this evening, so Papagayo won the coin toss.

Papagayo is a funky little place in downtown Hamilton that I have been frequenting for about fourteen years now. The food is always great and their dessert menu is uh-ma-zing!  Not to mention their margaritas - they stock an impressive selection of tequila - no Cuervo Gold swill.  I also love an establishment that lets us chat and laugh for an extended period of time without charging us rent.

Vivieen had her fingers & toes crossed that the orange roughy would be the daily special.  Vivieen is the kind of best mate that a girl could ever hope for--she would give you the shirt off her back, but apparently this orange roughy is so good she would stab a fork in your eye if you ordered the last one.  She actually clapped her hands with glee when she found out it was on the menu for this evening.  I had the chimichanga with the Papagayo cesar salad - with peach margaritas on the side!

Prior to our visit, I had heard that Papagayo had made some changes to their menu.  When I Googled "Papagayo" this restaurant was the first hit.  The second and third hits were very interesting.   Apparently Papagayo is a lip-syncing program designed line up mouth shapes with actual recorded sound of actors speaking. Holy smokes!  I am totally a drag queen trapped inside a woman's body.  Think about it - if I could wear a tiara and feather boa to work I would, I love a well timed bitchy comment, and hey, I dig the fellas!  Therefore lip-syncing is one of my favourite hobbies. 

This search also revealed something called the "Papagayo wind", which is a north to northeasterly wind which periodically blows through the gap in the mountain ranges of Central America.   Well, after a night at Papagayo I too have a north to northeasterly wind which periodically blows through a gap in my mountain ranges.

No wonder I have such an affinity for this place.

Highly recommend the chocolate-chilli cheesecake (sweet with an after burn)

and the tequila lime cheesecake (garnished with a drizzle of Patron)